Identification of Plasmodium falciparum antigens by antigenic analysis of genomic and proteomic data

Abstract

The recent explosion in genomic sequencing has made available a wealth of data that can now be analyzed to identify protein antigens, potential targets for vaccine development. Here we present, in the context of Plasmodium falciparum, a strategy that rapidly identifies target antigens from large and complex genomes. Sixteen antigenic proteins recognized by volunteers immunized with radiation-attenuated P. falciparum sporozoites, but not by mock immunized controls, were identified. Several of these were more antigenic than previously identified and well characterized P. falciparum-derived protein antigens. The data suggest that immune responses to Plasmodium are dispersed on a relatively large number of parasite antigens. These studies have implications for our understanding of immunodominance and breadth of responses to complex pathogens.

Fig. 1.

Antigen-specific reactivity in irradiated sporozoite immunized volunteers protected or not protected against sporozoite challenge. PBMCs derived from volunteers immunized with irradiated P. falciparum sporozoites and either protected or not protected against challenge with infectious sporozoites were tested by IFN-γ ELISPOT assay against peptide pools from putative P. falciparum proteins, as described in the text. Data are presented as summed SFC of all responses that met predefined criteria of positivity.